Zane and Kathryn
by stargazerlilly21
Summary: Um...I didn't know where else to put this. I'm writing a book and what some advice and a few people to read it to know what others think/ what needs to get fixed, etc
1. Chapter 1

Prologue

Lycans, otherwise known as werewolves, and vampires have been at war for centuries. No one really knows anymore how the war got started; the ones who do know are Ancients and others just don't speak of it.

To become a vampire, one must give your blood to a vampire and, in return, the vampire exchanges some of their blood.

And I know you've heard the rumor that vampires can only go out after sunset. That's a load of crock. Silver can help or harm; for a vampire to be pierced by silver causes them to heal at human speed, but wearing silver on some part of a vampire's body protects them from burning under sunlight. Only the Ancients and very powerful vampires don't have to wear silver. Vampires are naturally more graceful and faster than the human eye, giving humans the impression that vampires are gliding when walking.

In our world a vampire stays to her, or his, parent. Jade is my parent, my mother; in other words, she changed me. Jade has long had conflicts with another master vampire by the name of Zane; Jade spawned me to take down Zane, who dates back to Egyptian times (probably farther). Jade is a female vampire about fifty years younger than Zane. I've trained my whole immortal life to take him down: a whopping two hundred years. I still look nineteen, the age I was when Jade found me. After she changed me, I dyed my hair black, changed the spelling of my name and left my past behind. My 5'6", hourglass figure didn't change and my slender form didn't gain or lose any weight; instead, I became stronger and more powerful in many ways. Some ways I haven't even discovered. Yet.

And out of the darkness they come and smite those who fear.

-Vampyr Kouncil

Chapter 1

My grey eyes gazed across the room as I now sat, crouched, in the corner, hidden behind a bed. I had just crawled in through the open window; a light breeze ruffled the curtains to hide my entrance. I slowly rose from the corner, noticing a small side table on the opposite side of the bed with a single red rose in a small, black vase on top: the only objects in the otherwise bare room. It was like a bloody tear on a pale cheek. I silently walked through the room, over to the door. There were no humans, at least none on this floor; I could sense a few downstairs, their auras extremely weak compared to the others around them. These other auras clung to the back of my throat, lingering on my tongue. These others were vampires.

I quietly walked down the stairs. I could feel the handles of my daggers beneath my trench coat, black leather pants, and knee-high boots; the perfect attire for a party, yet I hadn't been invited, and never would be.

I was searching for someone, someone I knew would be there; their master, Zane. He was one of the most powerful vampires. There are none who will stand up to him. That is, there _were_ none, until I became a vampire.

I sensed Zane's think aura and could tell he was in the next room. I tightened my grip on the blade at my wrist, took a deep breath and kicked open the door, unsheathing my blade and posing in my oh-so-famous asskicking pose. My eyes searched the room; it was empty, but I could still feel Zane's aura. I hissed in frustration, exposing my fangs, and changed form to a black and white cat before strutting through the room. I sat down in the middle of the room and licked my paws clean while searching each dark corner. Nothing! I tilted my head in confusion and meowed. Then I realized…

I looked up at the ceiling, and hissed. There, clinging onto the ceiling, was Zane. His stunning, pale complexion, wavy black hair, and glass blue eyes didn't waiver my opinion of him. Not even his muscular perfectly in-shape body made me doubt. Well…maybe just a little. To me, he was nothing but slime.

Zane gracefully floated down to the ground and looked at me. I hissed, striking a paw out at him. He walked over to me and bent over, picking me off the ground by the scruff of my neck. "Well, well, well. If it's not another one of Jade's weakling spawns."

I growled at Zane and changed back into human form. At least as a human I'd be able to defend myself. "Zane," I spat, gripping my knife again. "What a surprise."

He ignored me. "So, Jade thinks you're different from the others?" He paused. "She _did_ tell you about the others, didn't she?"

I smirked at him. "I'm not as stupid as the others."

Zane laughed, throwing his head back. "I could kill you right now and you'd be proven wrong."

"You could…" I admitted, quickly drawing my blade. Zane caught my wrist as I was about to plunge the dagger downwards.

"I could," he agreed tightening his grip.

I laughed, trying to fight the paid. "If you really wanted to kill me, you would have already done it."

Zane eyed my serious face. "Well, maybe you're not _as_ stupid, just a smartass."

"I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't meant to be," Zane mumbled sourly.

"I'm not offended easily," I told him, pushing my body weight against him to force the knife down.

"Don't be feisty."

"I figured you liked it rough," I joked.

He smiled, revealing his fangs. "Possibly."

I glared at him, shoving him away. In surprise, Zane released my wrist and did a couple of back flips to put enough space between us. When he landed, Zane quickly grabbed his dagger from a sheath at his ankle and threw it at me. With a searing pain I felt the dagger pierce my shoulder. I bit my lip, drawing blood so as not to scream out.

"Rough enough for you?" Zane questioned.

"Not nearly," I choked out as blood ran down my coat.

A look of amusement crossed his face. Zane walked up to me and pushed the blade deeper into my shoulder. He took a deep breath through his nostrils and then leaned in, now only inches from my face. "I can smell your desire, Kathryn." He leaned in and gently latched on to my lips; his tongue brushed through my mouth and to my lips, wiping the blood off with his tongue.

I was momentarily transfixed as his aura swarmed over me and I breathed in the expensive cologne smell that lingered around him. I wanted to kiss him so bad, a feeling that both confused and excited me, but Zane's words broke the trance.

"Admit it," Zane breathed the words.

I cried out in laughter; Zane leaned back a little. "Good luck torturing me; you'll never get a plea, much less an ode of love, from me." I put a hand on the dagger handle and quickly pulled it out. I wiped my blood on to Zane's expensive looking black leather jacket. "I'll just keep this as a reminder of our _lovely_," I practically spat the word, "first encounter." I slipped down, crouching to put the blade in my boot when Zane spoke up.

"If you think that torturing you is what I want you for, then you don't know the 'enemy' as well as you think you do."

In response to those words, I turned back into my cat form, hissed at Zane and ran out of the room before he could stop me.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I paced back and forth in my room, jacket discarded on the ground. How could I have let him attack me like that? I shouldn't let him get to me; he wasn't getting to me. Was he? I held a hand over the wound on my shoulder and waited for Jade; I knew she'd be here sooner or later. I was her "last hope", or at least that's what she had claimed. As I predicted, a minute later my bedroom double doors flew open to reveal Jade. I stopped pacing in order to see Jade's expression; she didn't look too happy. "I knew you'd be by soon enough." I held out my arm to show Jade the wound. "Silver blade," I explained. "Are you happy now that I've met 'the enemy'?"

"You know I will never be happy until Zane is taken out," she declared royally. She sighed, looking at my shoulder. "Sit; let me fix you up at little." We sat on my bed and she slowly began wrapping a bandage, which had appeared in her lap, around the wound. Jade never told me if she had some witch blood in her family before she'd been turned into a vampire, even though most of those traits just drop away with the change. Still between her and the maids that I never saw, there was some sort of magic in the house.

I looked Jade's attire over; her clothing really modeled her attitude. Jade wore a long sleeved, black robe with strips of jade fabric along the edges. The hood that usually shaded her pale face was lying against her back. Jade had red hair that lay a little below her shoulders, entrancingly bright green eyes and small, pale lips. She looked so graceful, so royal, sitting there wrapping my injury.

"Kathryn, did you hear me?" Jade called out again.

"Huh?" I asked, my grey eyes unglazing.

"I said, 'Did you get the blade Zane stabbed you with?'"

I thought for a moment. I valued Jade as a very honorable maker, but at times she was a bit…mad. "No," I mumbled.

"What, child? I didn't hear you."

I cleared my throat. "No, I didn't get it; Zane still has it."

Jade sighed in disappointment. "Thank you, Kathryn." She rose in sadness, deep in thought. "Well, we'll start your training again tomorrow; you might be sore," she added, nodding towards my arm, "but you need practice. You shall try again, soon." Jade gave me a half smile and left.

I sighed in relief and looked around my room. There was a bed on one wall; the bed frame was coal black and the sheets were ivory, made of silk, as were the curtains around the bed. The opposite wall had a cherry wood dresser; the wall across from the entrance was closed off by an ivory curtain that hid a bathtub and three balconies, each with its own glass double doors. But my favorite part about my room was the secret passageway next to my dresser. The path led to different rooms of the house and to an outside exit somewhere beneath the balconies.

I filled the bathtub with steaming water and slid in. it was late in the evening, probably around 2 a.m., so I left the balcony doors open to let the cool night's air in. considering I had just attempted to kill a powerful lord, Jade would have frowned at my display of ease; if it was her, everything would have been closed and locked up. I sighed as the hot water steamed around me. I unwrapped my shoulder and slid it underneath the water.

An hour later, when my fingers and toes were beyond pruney, I rose from the tub and tied my hair in a loose bun at the back of my neck. I watched out of the corner of my eye as the curtains from the middle balcony were blown inward by a breeze; yet, the breeze did not reach my skin. I quietly walked over to the doorway and out onto the balcony; I took a quick look around the balcony and grounds below. Satisfied when I saw no one, I turned to go back inside. As I turned, I spotted him sitting casually on the balcony rail. I gasped and stepped back from him. I didn't dare to scream or attempt for my knife inside. I knew he could react much quicker.

"You _are_ bold," an icy¸ enchanting voice spoke; a voice belonging to Zane. His eyes scanned my body.

I threw my arms across my bare chest and then my lower regions, attempting to cover myself. Finally, I resorted to slinking behind the curtain. "What are you doing? How dare you enter the house of Jade and not cower?" I demanded.

Zane chuckled and casually rose, slowly walking over to me and, without warning, grabbed my neck. "I could kill you with one squeeze of my hand."

"If you really intended to kill me, you'd have already done it. The question is: why do you toy with me? You're not known for your mercy."

"Are you saying you want me to end your miserable existence?" Zane interrogated, tightening his grip.

"What I'm saying is: you could end all your troubles now. I am Jade's 'last hope', after all." How much of my own statement I believed- I wasn't sure. "Then you could travel downstairs and do whatever until your heart's content to Jade; everything would be simple for you. Or, you could let me live and torture me for the rest of our lives. It's your choice."

Zane's grip loosened. "I like you; you're the first of the Jade's," he paused," offspring that I actually enjoy talking with."

I hissed; my nails turned into cat claws and I swatted at Zane, leaving four scratch marks from his forehead diagonal across his face to his chin.

He stepped away from me, letting go of my throat, and stretched his jaw as he touched his face. I watched Zane's cuts close up and heal, scar free, as I retracted my claws. He shook his head in disbelief. "You are feisty. Do you think that was the wisest thing to do?" he chuckled.

I eyed my fingernails and smiled, pleased. "Like you said: I'm feisty." I flicked my tongue evilly at him and turned away, going back inside to the tub to retrieve my towel. As I tucked the towel around me, I sensed a presence and was surprised to discover Zane had followed me inside. "Do you like pain?" I questioned as I pulled back the curtain that shielded the view of my room. I calmly walked over to my wardrobe and exchanged my towel for a bathrobe, keeping my body covered at all times.

"Aw… shy now, are we?" he toyed with me as he followed me around the room at a safe distance. I stopped and faced him; Zane stopped inches from my face. His voice was soft and captivating when he spoke. "And after all we've been through, Kitty Kat." His hand slowly slid up my leg as he spoke.

I slapped his hand and stepped away. "Where do you get off talking to me like that?" I crawled over my bed, putting it between us.

"Kathryn," he spoke coolly, "why be so distant?" his hand shot out, clasping around my wrist and he pulled me onto the bed. Zane sat on my feet and held my wrists down. The wound on my shoulder began to bleed openly again, spreading onto my sheets, but I dared not cringe. "Come on, Kat. Why so weak?"

Those words stung- to be called weak when you weren't. I spit in his face, hissing. "You slimy son-of-a-lycan!"

The back of Zane's hand snapped across my face. The impact turned my head; my cheek was red before his hand was back at my wrist. Those words were the worst insult that could be spoken in the English language to any species, especially vampires, who were furthest from being allies with the lycans. That insult was the foulest since the War. "You ungrateful Daemon! You little viper!"

I squirmed my feet out from underneath his legs, put them on his stomach and pushed him off my bed; my vampire strength sent him sprawling to a crash against the opposite wall. I flipped myself off my back, steadily landing on my feet on the bed. I crawled off the bed as Zane rose eerily off the floor with no apparent effort. I was almost horrified at such an obvious display of power; power neither Jade nor I had anticipated, but I didn't let my horror show.

Zane clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth, tisking my actions. "You have spirit, I'll grant you that much, but can you fight as well as Jade thinks?" Quick as a blink, Zane squatted down to his ankle and threw a dagger at me.

My hand shot out and grabbed the dagger on either side of the blade without cutting myself. I twirled the blade around my hand. "I guess I am," I shot back, chunking the dagger back at Zane. With a thud, the silver blade embedded itself in his shoulder. "Just for you; now we can match." I rolled my sore shoulder, relaxing it.

"Ahh!" Zane sighed, obviously in pain, as he slowly pulled out his blade. "Here," he threw the blade lightly to the floor, "keep it for Jade's collection."

I glared at him. "Here, have one of mine." I grabbed the dagger hidden beneath my pillow and threw it at Zane. It landed in his side and he stumbled back a few steps.

Zane shook his head as he dislodged the knife from the grip of blood. He kneeled and slid the knife into his ankle holder. "Watch yourself, Kathryn Shae." There was a ripple in the air around me and Zane disappeared.

_Well, _I thought, _I guess that explains why the curtains moved._ My body relaxed and I plopped down on my bed, immediately falling asleep.

8 a.m. I woke still in my robe, the shoulder of my robe crusted red with blood. I discarded my robe, throwing it to the floor, and sighed as I saw my blood stained sheets; it wasn't going to be easy to get that out, but it wasn't my problem. It was up to the maids and their magic. I put on a pair of navy blue jeans and a black bra. With the warm water from the pitcher left on my dresser every morning I washed my shoulder, wiping it clean of dried blood. As I made my way to my wardrobe, my foot hit something cold and metallic-like on the ground. And just when I was beginning to believe it was all a dream. I picked up Zane's knife and tucked it into the side of my jeans.

Jade stormed in. "Kathryn, Zane was here last night!" she accused.

I pulled on a plain black shirt and sighed, touching my tender shoulder. "Now, Jade, why would he show up-?"

"Your room reeks of his aura!" she yelled.

I went still. "We had a slight confrontation," I began. "We fought, he toyed with me, I lost. There's nothing else to it."

"Your bed is where I smell him the most," Jade accused casually.

"Give it a rest, Jade; it's not worth it." That shocked me about as much as it shocked her.s

Jade backhanded me across the face. I spin around, quickly unsheathing the dagger at my side and, in the process, slicing my hip. The razor sharp edge split across Jade's cheek. Without another moment's hesitation, I grabbed my knives and ran to the balcony, jumping off and continuing to run without pausing. It was only when I was far enough from the mansion that I paused to put my weapons in place and then continued on my way, going into the woods adjacent to Jade's house.

I was in deep shit now; I had struck Jade, my maker and teacher. Well, what's the worst that she could do? Life couldn't get much worse.

Then I heard a branch snap, one not broken by me. Speak of the devil. I froze and silently slid down to a crouching position, cursing myself for becoming so deep in thought that I hadn't noticed a presence around me.


End file.
